Codebook: BillRollCallDownloads.csv

The billrollcalldownloads.csv file is one of a number of data files available for download on the Open Maine Politics website. It is a comma-delimited file that can be opened by any modern spreadsheet or database program. Each row represents one roll call vote. Variables for each bill are organized into ten columns:

Column 1: voteid: unique id to refer to a vote (roll call numbers are duplicated between the House and Senate)

Column 2: chamber: where the vote is held — Maine House or Maine Senate

Column 3: ld — standing for legislative document. Each regular bill that is formalized and sent to a committee for consideration is given a unique LD number by staff of the Maine State Legislature. Newspaper articles and archives typically refer to this number when reporting on a bill.

Column 4: lduniqueid — a third kind of identifying number (the other two being LD and HP/SP) for a bill. This unique ID is used by the website of the Maine State Legislature to identify additional data associated with a bill such as roll call voting.

Column 5: rollcallnumber — official roll call number associated with the vote.

Column 6: motion — Maine state legislative shorthand for the proposed action about which a vote is held.

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